Star Tribune
Ex-Minneapolis police officer pleads guilty to criminal vehicular homicide ahead of trial
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Brian Cummings pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide for his role in a high-speed chase that killed another driver nearly two years ago.
The plea deal means avoiding a jury trial in Hennepin County District Court and prison time by dismissing the second-degree manslaughter charge in connection to the fatal on-duty crash July 6, 2021 that killed Leneal Frazier, 40, of St. Paul.
Cummings, a 14-year veteran, left MPD when he was charged three months after the fatal crash resulting from the chase in north Minneapolis with a suspected carjacker who was arrested earlier this year. During the pursuit, Cummings’ squad car crashed into another car driven by Frazier, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Joshua Larson told District Judge Tamara Garcia that the parties reached a joint resolution for Cummings to serve up to one year in the county workhouse with a probationary term of three to five years. If he violates probation, the presumptive sentence would be four years.
Cummings’ sentencing is scheduled for June 22. He is not in custody.
Frazier was the uncle of Darnella Frazier, the teen who recorded ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes until he died. Cummings would’ve been the first Minneapolis police officer to stand trial since Chauvin, who was convicted of murder in 2021.
Cummings’ attorneys Thomas Plunkett and Debra Ellis read over the plea deal in court and a narrative of his patrol shift that night leading up to the crash. They stood before a dozen members of Frazier’s family across the aisle from Cummings’ family.
Cummings agreed that his speeds — reaching up to 100 mph — were dangerous and he had a duty to use due care in his driving. Larson asked Cummings to admit that he ran a red light when he crashed into Frazier, and Cummings agreed.
“I accept your guilty plea today,” Garcia told Cummings. “As of today you are convicted of this crime.”
The trial was originally set for September 2022 but rescheduled for May 1.
Frazier’s funeral at Minneapolis’ Shiloh Temple was attended by Floyd’s relatives and high-profile attorney Benjamin Crump, who told mourners that Frazier was an “innocent man minding his business” who was killed by Minneapolis police for not following its own chase policy. Frazier left behind six children.
Frazier’s death sparked a review of the city’s police pursuit policy, which says police may not initiate a pursuit or must end one if it “poses an unreasonable risk to the officers, the public or passengers of the vehicle being pursued who may be unwilling participants.”
Minneapolis attorney Jeff Storms, who is representing Frazier’s family, previously told the Star Tribune that he filed a notice of claim against the city — signaling a possible lawsuit after the criminal case is resolved. Storms did not return calls Thursday morning.
According to charges, Cummings was pursuing a stolen vehicle carjacked at gunpoint. The pursuit stretch about 20 blocks, reaching speeds up to 100 mph on residential streets where the speed limits are posted at 25 mph.
He was traveling about 78 mph when he hit Frazier at the intersection of N. Lyndale and 41st avenues.
Plunkett filed a motion in March 2022 asking the court to dismiss the case, but Judge Garcia denied.
“The accident was caused by Mr. Cummings driving 78-100 mph in a 25-mph residential zone, through a red light, and into an active intersection. These actions unquestionably caused the death of an innocent bystander …” Garcia wrote in her decision.
Before trial, Plunkett moved to offer Cummings’ prior pursuit experiences in the six months prior to the fatal crash. Plunkett said in court records that this experience would rebut witness testimony on behalf of the state that Cummings violated MPD pursuit policy. Former MPD Chief Medaria Arradondo was expected to testify that Cummings was driving too fast and failed to clear the intersection.
Other law enforcement officials were expected to take the witness stand and opine on the speeds reached in the pursuit, but Plunkett argued the MPD pursuit policy manual does not indicate a maximum pursuit speed or how officers should determine what risks are “unreasonable.”
On the contrary, Plunkett referenced MPD’s Pursuit Review Committee which found that Cummings “proactively performed his duty… with the intention of making Minneapolis safer by attempting to apprehend a violent and dangerous suspect.” The committee ruled Cummings did not violate department policy, Plunkett’s motion filed Monday said.
To prove manslaughter, prosecutors needed to show the death was caused by culpable negligence, or a matter so careless it disregards human life. Plunkett argued that Cummings was never reprimanded or told his pursuit conduct violated policy. He said in a pursuit one month before the fatal crash, Cummings reached speeds up to 102 mph on North Second Street and never received negative feedback from supervisors.
In fact, Plunkett argued that Cummings remained employed at MPD for three months after the fatal crash. He didn’t leave the department until charges were filed in late October 2021.
Police arrested the carjacker Cummings was pursuing 18 months after the fatal crash. James Jones-Drain had a dozen outstanding warrants on charges that include homicide and robbery. He was charged with fleeing police and auto theft for reportedly running several stop signs and red lights during the pursuit. Charges say he narrowly missed Frazier’s SUV.
This is a developing story. Check the startribune.com for updates.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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